How to Care for Jacobina Flowers

The Jacobina flower, also known as the flamingo plant and the Brazilian plume flower, is a large tropical flower that grows best in the shade. The large leaves are evergreen through the year, making it a popular plant in USDA hardiness zones 8b through 11. Tall spikes emerge from the base sprouting leaves and then flowers ranging in colors that include white, pink, apricot, yellow, and lavender. Use this plant as a tall background plant in landscape designs.

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Pruning shears
• Peat moss
• Perlite
• Balanced fertilizer

1. Add peat moss or perlite to the soil if it tends to be hard with clay, working it into the top 12 inches of the soil around the plant, preferably before you plant the flower.

2. Pinch back the tall spikes in the spring with a pair of pruning shears to stimulate new growth, cutting back up to a third of the stalk, encouraging new flowers to grow. Cut the older plant back to the ground in the fall every three or four years, to rejuvenate the plant.

3. Moisten the soil around the Jacobina flower with plenty of water, but not allowing the soil to become soggy.

4. Fertilize the plant with a balanced fertilizer to promote root growth as well as flowers, once a month according to the manufacturer’s instructions.